Remaining as still as possible, Sora couldn’t make Wendy feel any more awkward than they both felt, so she kept her focus on Lori’s light-brown eyes.
Sora burned with anger; the psychopath seemed to get off on her bright-red cheeks as each article was cut off, yet she noticed Lori’s nervous taps against her folded arms.
The other girls around the locker room looked uncomfortable yet obviously wouldn’t speak up and draw Lori’s attention; not that Sora wanted their pity.
Still, if this was the end of it, then she could handle at least this much, and the order came straight from Kari’s mouth.
There wasn’t a damn thing Lori could do to go against the Alpha Bully, which made Sora want to smirk—fortunately, she managed to hold herself back.
Several tight expressions came from Lori’s mutters as Wendy moved to her underwear, moving through her clothing as quickly as possible after snipping off most of her hair in uneven patches to be done with the horrible experience.
“Mmgm… Why… Dammit!
Slow down a bit, Wendy, or do you want to join her?” “S-Sorry…” Attempting not to look too vulnerable as she hugged herself, Sora internally poked at Lori’s barely subdued agitation.
What’s wrong, Lori?
Trying to figure out how to convince Kari to get me to stay?
Dammit, I can’t believe it was you and Jenny who were the ones forcing me to stay!
Why?!
Is it because you kept wanting free stuff?
Well, get used to not having a little money bank, bitch, because I’m out of— Once the last clothing fell away from her hips, she stumbled back a bit as Lori threw the white towel at her.
“Don’t you dare use your gym clothes… Hey, you, Hannah…” “Y-Yes?” the taller, pretty blonde to her left gave a start.
The forgettable girl—at least, to Sora—was fairly popular and, in order to not be bullied in middle school for outshining Lori, had become somewhat of a reluctant lapdog.
“You know what to do.” “Yeah…” “Alright, I gotta go—I’m pissed—oh, and make sure to clean this shit up, dumpster girl,” she grunted, ramming into Sora as she exited, making Sora almost trip on the bench.
Yeah, she’s gotten ten times worse since last year.
What’s up her ass; no more free makeup to cover her pimples?
Boo-hoo!
The other girls filed out, including Hannah, who would likely be waiting to follow behind and record her for Lori.
Now alone, Sora let her pent-up lungs release their air in a slow stream while giving Wendy a melancholy smile.
She could only hope that finally, maybe, they could both be free from this hell.
“Sorry, Wendy, b-but if I leave—” “Sora…” Wendy cut her off, moving with defeated shoulders to her trashcan, getting the dustpan and broom to clean up the clothing and hair.
“Can we just… not?
Look, it’s great—I’m happy for you, but yeah… My life’s hard enough—I don’t need a target on my back.” Open lips closing, Sora’s fingers tightened against her naked sides, vision drifting to her old friend’s shuffling, beat-up shoes.
Right… Wendy doesn’t just have Kari to worry about… There’s no way Jane would be okay with Wendy hanging out with me again—stupid… If only… Swallowing the saliva caught in her mouth, Sora cleared her throat and walked beside Wendy, whispering, “Yeah, I d-don’t want to cause y-y-you trouble at home either… Can I use the scissors?” “Sure…” Not looking at each other, Sora took the item to the mirror to try and make her hair at least somewhat presentable; stepping away, she turned her head left and right to examine her handiwork.
With sparkling, larger-than-typical jade irises, copper hair that stemmed from her father’s Irish side, and Asian, smooth skin that tanned well from her mother’s Japanese side, people had generally commented on her beauty throughout her life.
She wasn’t too ‘shapely’ yet, but she still had at least two years before her curves stopped growing, so there was still hope for a bit more of a figure than she currently had.
Sora knew she wasn’t ugly, and even with short-cut hair, she could pull it off fine like this, yet being told day after day by other girls that she stunk, had weed hair, and looked weird didn’t help her self-image, as much as she tried to ignore them.
Her focus shifted to Wendy in the mirror as she wrapped the towel under her armpits, positioning it as low as possible to give her bottom decent coverage.
Sora was worried; sometimes her balance wasn’t the best—probably because of the meds, as Mary insinuated, like her stuttering—and she didn’t want to embarrass herself further if she stumbled.
Wendy’s cheeks were flushed while bent down, passively staring at Sora’s chopped-off hair, and seemingly deep in thought.
By her trembling lower lip, she could guess the brown-haired girl was wondering if she’d be the next target if Sora left.
If I can just get Jane to let her be homeschooled with me… Why does she even hate me so much?
I mean, why do I even need to question it?
It’s obviously because I’m a spoiled rich girl, and she’s a drunk loser who forces her daughter to get a job to help pay for rent.
I wish I could help you… But Jane’s too proud to accept money from a rich girl.
Stupid.
Everyone’s stupid.
Not wanting to put any more pressure on Wendy, Sora ran to the sink and tried to get the rest of her cut hair out.
Afterward, she washed her face with cold water and dried off with her own towel.
A decent amount of loose hair lingered on the cloth.
“Sorry…” she whispered as she left, but Sora hesitated by the entrance as she heard Wendy start to cry when she left her sight.
Leaning against the side of the tiled wall, Sora’s nose burned again as she clutched the towel to her chest.
Wendy… I’m sorry that being my friend hurt you so much.
She gathered her courage and moved into the gym.
Kari was the center of everyone’s attention as she served.
The bully spiked the volleyball so hard that the opposing girl winced as she redirected it; it bounced off the ceiling and went out of bounds.